Monday, October 26, 2009

At Sirens, in Vail, Colorado, I learned how to wear chain mail and intimidate people. AARRRR! I WILL CRUSH YOU!!!

Thanks to Artemis for the photo :o)

Moving on, at stop three in the tour -- Seattle -- my dear friend, secret codename: T. Lovely R., took me to meet the Troll Who Lives Under the Bridge.

A tip to anyone going on tour: It will boost your morale if around stop nine you can arrange to wake up to the following:

And then it helps to bring thousands of family members to your bookstore events. Here are secret codename: Cordelia, secret codename: Apocalyptica, me, our mother, our father, and Cordelia's daughters, secret codenames: Phoenix and Isis! Joe, sorry you couldn't be there, but hope you enjoyed the brief man-cation. This photo was taken at The Bookmark in Atlantic Beach, Florida -- thanks, Rona!

Here's one more photo. Just in case I haven't gotten my point across.

I'm trying to exercise restraint on the blog when it comes to photos of the twins. Really. Have you looked at this post recently?

:o)

So. Just a few images from my trip. It's lovely to be home.

What are you reading these days? I've embarked on a spate of rereading, starting with A Wrinkle in Time, A Wind in the Door, and A Swiftly Tilting Planet. I might move on to The Princess Bride next, and Beauty by Robin McKinley. I've got my eye on Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset (the Tiina Nunnally translation), but at 1400 pages, that's going to take some commitment. Anyone out there doing any good rereading?

50 comments:

I am tearing my way through 'Terrier' by Tamora Pierce, I am having difficulty forcing my hand to put it down. Also, I am reading 'Blaze of Glory' by Michael Pryor, it is a fine romp so far, lots of mystery and intrigue. Next on my list is 'Fire', as it is a present I need to wait until mid-November to read it.

I am contemplating the trio "The Safe-Keeper's Secret", "The Truth-Teller's Tale", and "The Dream-Maker's Magic" by Sharon Shinn. I have re-read all of her other books and always rediscover some gem of a scene that I forgot - or find one that I knew was there and need to re-read for the mood it imparts. This will put me in a good spot to read her new "Quatrain" when it arrives in the mail.

I am currently reading Jerry Spinelli's "Stargirl" for the first time, and I already know that I will need to buy the sequel.

And, I am eagerly waiting for Juliet Marillier's "Hearts Blood" - coming soon. For those who came late to the knowledge (like me), Juliet is currently recovering from chemo and radiation for breast cancer and is welcoming positive thoughts from her fans.

Oh please don't hold back when it comes to pictures of the twins and tales of how much you love and adore them. It makes me feel normal. Really, truly it does because whenever people ask me about my three year old son I tend to gush and trip over my own tongue trying to explain (hopelessly, I should point out) how much I love him and how incredible he is and and and... It's just lovely to read.

The book stuff is great too. *wink*

(I just finished "Catching Fire" and am considering parking my butt on my library's front door so they'll hurry up and get "Fire" to me...)

Laura: I just spotted Sharon Shinn's books on the shelf at the library. Should I go back for them?

I'm also really sorry to hear about Juliet Marillier. I love her books and hope she's doing better.

Back on topic, I'm going through epic rereads of Pratchett, Mercedes Lackey's Elemental Masters books, and Patricia Wrede's Enchanted Forest chronicles. There are a few new books tucked in, like Libyrinth, which I grabbed at random and which turned out to be really great. I wish the good fiction section were on campus though, instead of in town.

I'm not doing any serious re-reading, but I am currently reading Dracula by Bram Stoker for my English class. One of the few English books that I don't have to force myself to finish on time. When that's done, I'm planning on returning to Empire by Orson Scott Card that I bought a few weeks ago. Not sure what I'll be reading after that. Perhaps The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss?

I definitely recommend Sharon Shinn - haven't read a bad book by her yet. "Mystic and Rider" is a good one to start with and one of my favorites. I post her name here because her character development and handling of romance is akin to Kristin's. I rotate between those mentioned and also Lois McMaster Bujold, while I am waiting for their next book to come out. I'd also recommend Megan Whalen-Turner - "The Thief was the first, and should be the first to be read, but I really loved the next two, especially "The Queen of Attolia". Madame Whalen-Turner takes SEVEN years to write the next book, so we shouldn't complain too much about Ms. Cashore :-)

In honor of the week leading up to Halloween, I've checked out The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein from the library. I've only gotten one page into it, so I can't say what it's like yet.

I would reccomend The Caliph's House by Tahir Shah. It's a very entertaining telling of a man who uproots his family and moves them to an old Caliph's house Morrocco that needs a lot of fixing up and perhaps the removal of a djin or two.

Ummm....you'd look a lot more intimidating in your mail if your shield didn't have a smiley face on it. :-)

Babies are so sweet. I keep wondering if all of Fire's desire for a baby wasn't fueled by impending arrivals of Thing 1 and Thing 2. ;-)

I just started reading Going Bovine by Libba Bray. No rereading at present, as my list of new reads is very long. However, I have reread Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games and Catching Fire before. I read Graceling twice. I read the Mortal Instruments series twice. And, uh, I read Twilight three times. *blush*

*Terrier and Bloodhound by Tamora Pierce (I've read Terrier several times, Kate, and STILL can't put it down)*Heidi by Spyri -- one of my favorite books of all time*The Dark Is Rising sequence by Susan Cooper (such fun books, with amazing descriptions that only add to the story)

There are others I've been through recently, but these are the ones I'm working on now!

Ah and Thing 1 and Thing 2. I repeat, nothing is as comforting as a baby, no matter what it's doing. Double your pleasure, double your fun! Talk about the twins as much as you like and ALWAYS include photos! :D

Glad to hear you're home safe and sound and settled again. And that you had a good time on your tour.

Hmm, reading... Right now I'm working my way through Alvor. Next on the list is Girl in the Arena. And I've got All the Windwracked Stars ordered from Amazon... I keep leaving off Alvor though because I'm close to finishing the first draft of a YA I've been working on...

RobinPS- good call on the smiley shield! I held the darn thing in my own hands and never noticed that! :)

I think I was the only American kid out there not to connect with A Wrinkle in Time. Just couldn't get into it, though I read the whole thing. Can anyone explain the appeal to me?

I have a copy of Kristin L. that I started years ago, always meaning to pick it up again. Maybe now's the time.

I'm currently reading The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruis Zafon. It is a bit The Name of the Rose, a bit Possession, with a bit of Dickens and Hugo thrown in. Anyone read this? Please, please discuss it with me! I'm dying to talk about this book.

A few years ago, my nana, mom, me and my hubby went to Seattle to visit my uncle and brother. They took us sightseeing all over. One day during all of our adventures my uncle and his wife asked us if we minded taking a short detour to go visit an old homeless man that lived under a bridge. They said they go visit him every once in a while and sometimes take him food or a few dollars. We all thought this was a little strange but agreed since my uncle was driving and we didnt have much choice. And of course, this homeless man was supposedly super nice, why else would they visit him?...turned out to be the troll under the bridge. Too funny. I finished Fire. It was so beautifully written! I am in love with this book!! I can't wait to share it. I cried, I laughed, I gasped out loud, I shouted "I KNEW IT!" when something happened that I had suspected would, and then I cried some more. Absolutely one of my favorite books!! I wish there was more. I cant wait for more of your writing. I have a few books that I've been told I definitely need to read, and a few of them are in my TBR pile: Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld, The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (his blog is hilarious), and the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon...So, I am not re-reading anything at this time, but have SO many new ones in my pile!!

Ok, They are astoundingly cute and you do look intimidating in your chain mail shirt, only scarier thing would be if it was U.S. Mail, then you could go postal. Reading “The Magicians” by Lev Grossman,for review, not quite as good as your stuff but so far a good story.

No rereading right now because there are so many good new ones on the pile. I'm almost done with Fire. It's been taking all my time for three days. Love it! I recently read Rampant by Diana Peterfreund. Completely new spin on Unicorns. As a unicorn hunter, Astrid is a little like Katsa. I also recently read Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater. I'm still trying to decide if I liked it.

I shouldn't be reading too much, I've got exams tomorrow, but in a week I've swallowed The Hunger Games, Bloodhound and digging my way through Mansfield Park. I've got to buckle down and review stodgy philosophers tonight, though :S

I saw on your appearance sched that you've got an event on Nov 10 at Books of Wonder (with Suzanne Collins!) any more details yet? It's the only place I've heard of it, so I'm nail-biting a little...

Rereading Tamora Pierce books (like always they are amazing) and Harry Potter. Oh, I just started The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins, and its great so far, I would definately recommand it. And also, I just finished rereading the Books of Bayer, by Shannon Hale, also great! Adorable babies, Kristin, and very intimidating in the mail! Hey, are the twins two girls, or a girl and a boy?

I just finished The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness, and I am currently reading Unwind by Neal Shusterman. Both excellent books!Hopefully I'll be receiving Fire for my birthday next month. I'm holding out until then, and it's almost killing me!

I'm attempting to read "The Lost Symbol" by Dan Brown. Great book, just haven't had time to do a lot of reading lately due to grading research papers and other English class papers.

I have quite a pile (literally) of books that have accumulated on my kitchen counter, nightstand and bookshelf. Here are some of the titles in the piles: "Graceling," "Fire," "Hunger Games," (2nd time through), "Catching Fire," "Ice," "Curse of the Spider King," ""Call of the Wild," "Carter Finally Gets It," and "Silksinger." I'm sure I'm missing a few...needless to say, way too many good, enticing books!

I'd love to re-read Madeleine L'Engle's Wrinkle in Time quartet again, one of my favorite authors.

Joe IS a secret codename! (I asked him what he wanted for a secret codename and he said, "Joe," despite the extreme elaborateness of my other secret codenames. Which is maybe why I usually don't ask people to make up their own ^_^)

And just to explain something -- a book is in production for a good year before it's published and often in revisions for a year before that -- meaning that Fire was written years ago -- so unless I used a time machine, there's no way my nieces could have influenced the book.

I have Shadow of the Wind on one of my to-be-read bookshelves, but haven't gotten around to it yet, despite multiple recommendations!

Oh I am loving these photos. Chain mail? So cool. That TROLL? Absolutely jaw-droppingly awesome. And Thing 1 and Thing 2? They belong in a Mastercard "priceless" commercial. Where did they get those outfits from? They are so adorable.

Time machine... hmmm... those never seem to work out for the better.... maybe it was Fire's desire for a baby that influenced you sister... if she was one of your readers... Either way, I'm terribly pleased to have all of them, Fire and Thing 1 and Thing 2 around, never mind what influenced who! :)

I'm currently reading the Joys of Love by Madeleine l'Engle! Such a coincidence...I'm also reading To Kill a Mockingbird, Heroes of the Valley, and the Naming. One good book I am looking forward to borrowing from the library is Poison Study by Maria Snyder. My friend recommended it to me, and I'm doing my best to juggle it all.

You have just named for rereading a huge pile of my very favorites! My own beautiful baby girl who's sitting on my lap right now (though she really wants to get down and find some paper to eat) is named Madeleine after L'Engle. (To whoever was asking for an explanation up above, I can't necessarily explain what the appeal of Wrinkle is either, even though it is my Favorite Book In the Universe (and I'm passionate enough about lesser books). I'll admit it's definitely not perfect. But it affected me PROFOUNDLY when I read it as a child and continued to speak to me every time I've read it (and even sometimes when I'm not reading it) since. The only specific reason I can give is that I've always identified very strongly with Meg.

I am actually on a No-you-don't-have-time-to-reread kick, because I have so many new books to be read and not a lot of time (or no time at all, if you want me to give up ALL my leisure time to housework). Nonetheless, my evil-disguised-as-thoughtful-and-sweet husband, wanting to get something for himself off Amazon that didn't quite reach the $25 free shipping mark, pulled Diana Wynne Jones' Howl's Moving Castle off my Wish List and added it to his order. "Look, I got a present for you!" he said all sweet an innocent. "Oh, I love that book! How very ... CRUEL of you, do you not see the humongous pile of library books I must get through before I can be allowed to reread anything? Now this book sits here TAUNTING me!" I gave in as soon as I finished the book I was already reading,* though, thus breaking my no-reread vow this weekend.

*which was, for the record, the 7th or 8th book in Diane Duane's Young Wizards series, a series that reminds me a LOT, incidentally, of L'Engle's Time books. NOW I am reading the last Thursday Next book. I'm trying to think what else is in my library pile here to mention... the Geektastic anthology, but I haven't gotten to it yet so can't say if it's good. Twice Upon a Marigold (also haven't read yet. The first was a lot of fun but not Great, expecting the same). I forget what else.

When I was AT the library last I did see Fire, and only didn't get it because by that point I already had more books than I really thought I could read in three weeks. Turns out by the time my son was done playing in the toddler area, someone ELSE took it out, anyway! Hope they've returned it by the time I go back...

I'm re-reading right now too. Although, to be fair, I'm ALWAYS re-reading. I re-read Graceling on a weekly basis. I went to the bookstore yesterday to get Fire. And it was on a table with a lot of recent favorites (Bloodhound, Catching Fire, Hunger Games, etc.)and Scott Westerfield's Leviathan was there. So I bought it. Ugh. I need to stop spending money, but I re-read EVERYTHING and I end up owing the library so much money...This is how I justify myself.

I did request everything my library system has on Madeleine L'Engle. I love her. A Ring of Endless Light is one of my all-time favorites. I'm reading a Circle of Quiet and Love Letters right now, as well as Lines Scribbled on an Envelope, one of her poetry books.

I devoured Fire. It was fantastic. Really and truly. I'm at work thinking about it right now. I didn't expect to like it as much as Graceling, but I do. I wish I could tell you how much your books mean to me. I was having a hard time recently and reading Graceling was a refuge. Thank you.

I LOVE the Fremont Troll!! So happy you got to see him while you were here. :)

One of my favorite books to reread is Diana Wynne Jones's Deep Secret. A lot of it takes place at a SciFi convention, so there are lots of references to other books. When I read it for the first time at age 12 I didn't catch most of them, so every time I reread it I can discover something new and witty slipped in between the lines.

The twins are so adorable! Glad you had a good time with them and the rest of your family. The Princess Bride is always a good time. When I've nothing to read or can't choose a book, I dig out my copy of Ella Enchanted. It's my favorite book of all time. :) I love twists on fairy tales. I'm currently reading the Blue Bloods series by Melissa de la Cruz. Haven't done any rereading lately, not since My Sister's Keeper back in June so I could compare the book and movie. Are you a fan of Jodi Picoult? I just picked up Hunger Games, due to all of the good hype on here about Catching Fire!

RobinPS, how is Going Bovine? I've been meaning to pick it up. I absolutely loved the Gemma Doyle trilogy!

rockinlibrarian, M. L'Engle is one of my favorite authors as well! I had the chance to meet her many years ago when she spoke at a local university...what a thrill!

I came across the first of Diane Duane's Young Wizards series this past summer at a book sale, and it did remind me of L'Engle's writing. I haven't had time to get back to reading the series...maybe I'll do that soon.

Definitely read the Geektastic anthology soon, it's wonderful! Some of my high school students have been turned off by the title, but it's right up their alley, reading-wise. I've talked so highly of it that it now is constantly being borrowed from my classroom library!

Lindsay, that's just about the best thing an author can hear. Thank you!

And thanks to everyone for all the comments. I can't explain the Wrinkle thing either; I think for me it has to do with sibling love. Everytime Meg starts with the "I love you, Charles Wallace" stuff, I turn into a puddle on the floor.

Also: the chain mail was heavyish, but evenly distributed, so not hard to wear at all. It was oddly comfortable!

All the mentions of Tamora Pierce makes me wish I wasn't at Uni so I could grab my fav books out of the cupboard and have a re-read. Gosh darn it! And i've now got a huge craving to re-read Graceling since I read Fire the other week and my friend read and loved Graceling just the other day (After i told her to read it)I'm currently between books and undecided as to what I'll pick up next. I feel in a re-reading mood right now so I may grab Poison Study or River Secrets of my shelf for some bedtime reading (I don't wholy care if I stay up until 2am to finish them)

I'm re-reading one of the most beautifully written books out there, 'Never Let Me Go' by Ishiguro. He is such a master of subtlety. I recommend reading this before the Keira Knightley movie comes out...there will be no way a film can touch his nuances.

I can't speak for all but 'A Wrinkle In Time' touched me profoundly because it was about a girl who succeeded purely because she was smart and courageous. It was a book unafraid to discuss science, spirituality and creativity. Heavy stuff for a ten year old.

Just finished When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead ... which will make a great follow-on to all the L'Engle rereads. It's a gem that uses Wrinkle in Time as a jumping off point. I think I'll be re-reading those same books soon.

Oh, what a wonderful question! I just finished with my second go around with "Shiver" by Maggie Stiefvater. Coincidentally, the next book on my reread list was "Fire". I've already reread Graceling several times and I've had the story of Fire on my mind lately. ^_^

I love those Dr. Seuss outfits! It definitely made my day. O.o I mean night.

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"Then, at last, sitting on her stretcher-bed, she took from the very bottom of her pack an old peacock-blue scarf folded around a heavy, square book. She unwrapped it and opened it very carefully, as if guilty secrets might fall from between its pages like pressed flowers. This was Harry's secret. She was a writer."

-from The Tricksters, by Margaret Mahy

Writing is my secret. Every day I unwrap and open it as carefully as I can. Welcome to my blog about writing and life! Above you'll find quick links about me and my books, and below is more about me, ways to subscribe, and an archive of past posts. Click here to go home to my most recent posts.

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About the Author

Kristin Cashore wrote the New York Times bestsellers Graceling, Fire, and Bitterblue, all of which have been named ALA Best Books for Young Adults. Her next book, Jane, Unlimited, comes out in September 2017. Graceling is the winner of the 2009 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children's Literature and Fire is the winner of the Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award. The books are world travelers, currently scheduled to be published in thirty-four languages.

Finally, a note: This blog is my only online presence. I am not on Facebook, Google+, or any other social media sites, and I use Twitter solely as an amalgamation feed for my blog. Sorry, but I do not read @-replies on Twitter!